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IT’S A DATE: After meeting in the peace village at Panmunjom along the North-South border, representatives of the two Koreas have agreed on April 27 as the date for the summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The announcement of the historic meeting came early this morning Washington time, and both sides agreed on another planning meeting to be held next Wednesday. “We still have a fair number of issues to resolve on a working level for preparations over the next month,” said Ri Son Gwon, the chairman of North Korea’s committee for the peaceful reunification of the country, according to Reuters. “But if the two sides deeply understand the historic significance and meaning of this summit and give their all, we will be able to solve all problems swiftly and amicably,” Ri added in closing remarks to the South Korean delegation. South Korea’s Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon told South Korean reporters, “Both sides will continue working-level discussions while focusing on the issues surrounding the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the stabilization of peace and the development relations between the South and North,” according to AP. CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM: At the White House, press secretary Sarah Sanders cast the latest developments in a positive light, saying again that the surprise meeting between Kim and Chinese President Xi Jinping is an indication that President Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign has been working. “Certainly we’re going to be cautiously optimistic, but we feel like things are moving in the right direction,” Sanders said. Sanders hedged, however, on whether the much-anticipated meeting between Kim and Trump can be pulled together by late May, just two months away. “Certainly, we would like to see this,” Sanders said. “We want to make sure that it’s done as soon as we can, but we also want to make sure it’s done properly, and we’re working towards that goal.” PRAISE FOR TRUMP: Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson lauded Trump on Wednesday for improving diplomatic relations with Pyongyang, but warned administration officials to beware of Kim’s “end game.” “He was only talking to Dennis Rodman before, so this is a good move. This is positive. This may lead to something decent,” he added, referring to the former NBA star who has made multiple trips to North Korea in recent years and has called Kim “a friend for life.” SHULKIN OUT, WHITE HOUSE DOC IN: The White House doctor who raised the eyebrows of some in the medical community for what was seen as an over-the-top enthusiastic endorsement of the president’s robust health has been tapped to be the next secretary of Veterans Affairs. Most Americans had never heard of Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson before his January press conference, in which he said Trump has “incredibly good genes,” and if he had a healthier diet might live to be 200 years old. “It’s the way God made him,” he gushed. If confirmed, Jackson, a career military officer with no administrative experience, will replace David Shulkin, the sole Obama administration holdover in Trump’s Cabinet, as the head of the VA, the federal government’s second-largest bureaucracy with a budget of $186 billion and 360,000 employees. Shulkin ran afoul of travel rules when he took his wife with him on an official trip to Europe, and had to reimburse the government several thousand dollars. VETERANS GROUPS REACT: While Jackson is an unknown quantity, some veterans groups are already expressing doubts that his resume is a good fit for the task of revamping an overburdened agency suffering from a shortage of doctors and other medical personnel. “Is it appropriate for an active-duty military officer to run a federal agency? With an official bio that does not seem to contain any indication that he’s held a command, is the president’s nominee fully prepared to lead such a massive bureaucracy?” asked Joe Chenelly, executive director of AMVETS, in a statement last night. “After more than a full year of progress, the VA still faces large and complex challenges that require continuity of experience and capable leadership. It’s unclear at this point whether President Trump’s nominee would provide the VA either of those things,” Chenelly said. SHULKIN’S CRITICS: Shulkin has his detractors on Capitol Hill, among them Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., a Marine Corps combat veteran and member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, who had repeatedly called for Shulkin to resign or be fired. “Dr. Shulkin came from within the VA and did nothing to clean up the culture of bureaucratic incompetence that has defined the leadership at the VA,” Coffman said in a statement. “I’m absolutely convinced that only someone from outside the VA can clean up the VA, and I hope that Admiral Jackson will be Marine Corps tough in getting that mission accomplished. Our veterans deserve better.” SHULKIN’S LAMENT: In an op-ed in this morning’s New York Times, Shulkin cast his firing as more about the internal debate over the desire by some in the Trump White House to turn over much of the VA’s health care mission to the private sector. “They saw me as an obstacle to privatization who had to be removed. That is because I am convinced that privatization is a political issue aimed at rewarding select people and companies with profits, even if it undermines care for veterans,” Shulkin wrote. “As many of you know, I am a physician, not a politician. I came to government with an understanding that Washington can be ugly, but I assumed that I could avoid all of the ugliness by staying true to my values. I have been falsely accused of things by people who wanted me out of the way. But despite these politically-based attacks on me and my family’s character, I am proud of my record and know that I acted with the utmost integrity. Unfortunately, none of that mattered,” Shulkin said, ending with this parting shot: “As I prepare to leave government, I am struck by a recurring thought: It should not be this hard to serve your country.” Good Thursday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre), National Security Writer Travis J. Tritten (@travis_tritten) and Senior Editor David Brown (@dave_brown24). Email us here for tips, suggestions, calendar items and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter @dailyondefense. |
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POLAND GOES PATRIOT: The U.S. and Poland signed an agreement Wednesday on the sale of the Patriot missile defense system to the NATO ally. The $4.75 billion sale is reportedly the largest arms procurement deal in its history and would add Poland to the list of international partners that have bought the Raytheon defense system from the United States. Raytheon said the Letter of Offer and Acceptance agreement sets the stage for the U.S. government to begin contract negotiations with it and industry partners including Lockheed Martin, which is the prime contractor for the system’s PAC-3 MSE missiles upgrade. HIT OR MISS: The sale comes as the Pentagon says the Patriot system successfully defended the Saudi capital of Riyadh from missiles fired by Houthi forces in Yemen this week. “You saw the barrage fired yesterday, how they put their ballistic missile defenses in place to protect people,” Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters Tuesday. “And I realize that, you know, one person was hit by the debris, killed by the debris, a couple wounded. But by and large, you can also see the interception to those,” Mattis said. His comments came as critics suggest the capabilities of the Patriot system are overrated, noting that some incoming missiles were not hit. “They don’t intercept them if they hit the open desert; they don’t waste a missile on an intercept on it,” Mattis said by way of explanation. HAPPENING TODAY: GOLDFEIN BREAKFAST: The Defense Writers Group hosts a breakfast at 8 with Gen. David Goldfein, Air Force chief of staff. SHANAHAN KEYNOTE: The Center for a New American Security has an afternoon conference on how to develop the military of the future that is packed with expert panelists. Deputy Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan with be giving the closing address at 4:05 p.m. The event is invitation-only, but you can watch live here. NELLER GETS STRATEGIC: Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller is at the Atlantic Council at 1:30 p.m. to take a strategic look at the service as part of the think tank’s commanders series. BOEING HACKED: Boeing admitted Wednesday that it was hit by a malware attack, but downplayed the incident as being limited to a “small number of systems.” Earlier, reports indicated some executives at the aircraft manufacturer were concerned the virus could impact airplane software. SPENDING CAP: U.S. taxpayers “will not pay more than 25 percent of the [United Nations] peacekeeping budget,” Ambassador Nikki Haley told the U.N. Security Council yesterday. “We pledge to work with member states and the organization to ensure we make this adjustment in a fair and sensible manner that protects U.N. peacekeeping,” Haley said during a meeting on the U.N. peacekeeping mission. SUBPOENA IN ARMY SECRETARY CASE: House Oversight Committee Democrats want to subpoena the Defense Department for documents that may show former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort promised a top job to a banker in exchange for a significant loan. According to media reports, special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating whether Manafort promised banker Stephen Calk he’d be nominated secretary of the Army in exchange for millions in loans. TAKING ON THE SPIES: Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May spoke Wednesday for the first time since the U.S. and more than a dozen European nations expelled Russian diplomats from their capitals in response to Russia’s suspected role in poisoning an ex-spy in the U.K. Trump and May “agreed on the importance of dismantling Russia’s spy networks in the United Kingdom and the United States to curtail Russian clandestine activities and prevent future chemical weapons attacks on either country’s soil,” the White House said. AIRSTRIKE IN LIBYA: The U.S. military says after several days of assessing the results of a weekend airstrike in Libya, it has confirmed it killed a senior member of the terrorist group al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM. The airstrike took place Saturday in Ubari, Libya, and resulted in the death of two people identified as terrorists, according to U.S. Africa Command. Among the dead was Musa Abu Dawud, described as a high-ranking leader who trained AQIM recruits in Libya for attack operations in the region. THE NEVERENDING CIVCAS DEBATE: U.S. Central Command has issued another one of its regular monthly reports on the number of civilians killed by U.S. and coalition airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, and once again it is wildly at odds with the estimate of outside groups. The latest review, discounting most reports as “non-credible,” confirms only a tiny fraction, six out of 84. The U.S. counts 855 unintentional civilian deaths since 2014, while Air Wars and independent outside groups says the real number could be 10 times as high. The U.S military says it uses a very high standard and admits that many cases deemed “non-credible” simply lack evidence, and that it’s entirely possible that more civilians were killed. Most of the incidents reviewed resulted in this boilerplate conclusion. “After a review of available information and strike video it was assessed that there is insufficient evidence to find that civilians were harmed in this strike.” BETWEEN IRAQ AND A HARD PLACE: From a Wall Street Journal “Corrections & Amplifications” note at the end of an article this week: “An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated Benjamin Netanyahu said Moses brought water from Iraq. He said the water was brought from a rock.” THE RUNDOWN Defense One: A Deal with North Korea Won’t Happen Without China Military Times: Trump Pentagon pick literally wrote the book on missile defense Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Lockheed Martin Delivers 1st Of 40 F-35s To South Korea Foreign Policy: Patriot Missiles Are Made in America and Fail Everywhere Reuters: Syrian Army Prepares ‘Huge’ Operation In Last Rebel Bastion As Pressure Mounts New York Times: Deal With U.S. Military Sets Off Protests in Ghana Wall Street Journal: NATO Braces For Russian Threat CNN: Dramatic night-vision video captures US raid to kill ISIS fighters Army Times: TRADOC boss: Today’s soldiers have lost their edge against our enemies Military.com: Russia Using ISIS Fears to Undermine NATO’s Afghan Mission: Analysts USNI News: Naval Aviators Underway Keep a Wary Eye for Physiological Episodes |
CalendarTHURSDAY | MARCH 29 8 a.m. 2401 M St. NW. Defense Writers Group breakfast with Gen. David Goldfein, Air Force chief of staff. 10 a.m. 529 14th St. NW. NPC Headliners Newsmaker: Marking Final Year of Centennial Commemoration of WWI. press.org 12 noon. Pentagon Briefing Room. Chief Spokesperson Dana White is scheduled to conduct her regular Thursday briefing for Pentagon reporters. Live streamed on www.defense.gov/live. 12 noon. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. How to Think Like a Terrorist. heritage.org 12:30 p.m. 1152 15th St. NW. Evolving the Future Force with Deputy Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan. Cnas.org Shanahan’s closing keynote remarks are scheduled for at 4:05 p.m. and will be also streamed live on www.defense.gov/live. 1:10 p.m. 1030 15th St. NW. US Marine Corps : A Strategic Look with Gen. Robert Neller. atlanticcouncil.org 6 p.m. 529 23rd St. SO/LIC Division Social. ndia.org FRIDAY | MARCH 30 7:30 a.m. 300 First St. SE. Air Force Association Breakfast Series with Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson. 10 a.m. 1030 15th St. NW. Murky Waters: Maritime Security in the East and South China Seas. atlanticcouncil.org 10 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. An update on the war in Afghanistan with Brig. Gen. Roger Turner. brookings.edu MONDAY | APRIL 2 1:30 p.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Syria and the Outside Powers: What They Want and Can They Have It? wilsoncenter.org TUESDAY | APRIL 3 10 a.m. 2301 Constitution Ave. NW. Iraq and Syria: Views from the U.S. Administration, Military Leaders and the Region with Gen. Joseph Votel, CENTCOM Commander, Stephen Hadley, and Brett McGurk, Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS. usip.org WEDNESDAY | APRIL 4 8 a.m. 2101 Wilson Blvd. Health Affairs Breakfast featuring Kenneth Bertram, the Principal Assistant for Acquisition for the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command. ndia.org 4:30 p.m. 1030 15th St. NW. Big Small Companies: How Size Matters in Defense Contracting. atlanticcouncil.org THURSDAY | APRIL 5 10 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Autonomous weapons and international law with introduction by Pauline Krikke, Mayor of the Hague. brookings.edu 2 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. The Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen. csis.org 5 p.m. 1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW. “Meddling—How to Win Friends and Influence People: Ivan Maisky, Soviet Ambassador in London, 1932-43,” a presentation by Gabriel Gorodetsky and a conversation with Strobe Talbott. carnegieendowment.org 6:30 p.m. 1777 F St. NW. Foreign Affairs Issue Launch: Letting Go: Trump, America, and the World. cfr.org |
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